Participation in sporting events and leagues does not always involve actual play. A very popular method of getting involved in sports, particularly professional and collegiate, is through “fantasy” leagues. Such fantasy leagues allow individuals to interact with other fantasy “players” to essentially run a team. The teams are based on actual athletes and their statistics, with scoring typically based on these statistics compiled for each actual athlete, or for selected categories (such as defense) during each game or match. Fantasy sports—particularly baseball, American football, basketball and auto racing—are now a major part of our sporting culture. Game and athlete statistics have been added to sports broadcasts and even scoreboards at actual events so that fantasy players in the crowd can monitor their fantasy statistics. Fantasy statistics also are now included in newspapers, magazines and online outlets. Because fantasy sports require fantasy players to educate themselves on actual athletes' statistics from across the real league, the game has been credited with making casual fans more knowledgeable about on goings outside of their own preferred real teams.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, fantasy football originated in 1962 when members of the Oakland Raiders front office and sports reporters developed a method of playing such a game. In fact, the method employed by this initial group of fantasy players has remained very similar. Each league had between 8-12 teams, with each team being run by a fantasy player. Quarterback George Blanda was the first-ever pick in a draft that is conducted very similar to the ones today. Teams had to choose four receivers, four halfbacks, two fullbacks, two quarterbacks, two kick returners, two placekickers, two defensive backs or linebackers and two defensive linemen. Various rules today allow for slightly different versions of the makeup of each fantasy team. But the only significant change in fantasy football and fantasy sports in general is use of online communications.
Online fantasy football has been embraced by numerous outlets such as CBS SPORTS™, YAHOO!™ and ESPN™. Typically, individual players sign on to play in public or private leagues comprised of about 12 fantasy teams. Each league is completely separate from other leagues, although some online outlets tally compiled points under some circumstances within their individual online venue. But the problem remains that current online fantasy methods essentially are venues consisting of completely separate leagues with the goal of consistently winning the individual league. What happens is that many fantasy players sign up for multiple leagues in order to increase the experience. But the same problems still exists in that these players still are only seeking to win the small leagues that are segregated from the others. As such, there is a need for a method of conducting an online contest where each player can compete within their leagues but also work toward a greater interaction with other leagues. The present invention solves this need by creating a method where brackets and specific rules allow each player to compete on this heightened level of play.
Another problem with current fantasy sports methods relates to prizes and scope of the contest. Typically, fantasy sports venues may offer a prize to the winner of each league. The prize may be a virtual trophy or a pot of money based on entry fees. But again, the prize money in particular is limited to the relatively small number of participants in each league. Theoretically, a league can have well more than 12 teams, but a significantly increased number of participants would severely affect parity as lower draft picks beyond 12 would be at a notable disadvantage. The result is that fantasy players cannot expect a significant windfall of winnings unless they participate in a “high-roller” type league. This means that there is a need for a method of conducting an online contest where a player paying even a nominal entry fee can use strategy and means of determining probability to potentially win a massive prize based on all entry fees. The present invention solves this problem by using a bracket and specific method in order to tie together mass quantities of individual players while preserving the 12-team leagues.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,371,855 issued to Gavriloff on Apr. 16, 2002 is a fantasy internet sports game. Gavriloff employs a system that ties the internet to fantasy sports where data and other information can be stored. Unlike the present invention, Gavriloff applies value-based rewards to participants that correlate with the value and performance of the actual athletes on the fantasy team. In contrast, the present invention provides a method to integrate hundreds of thousands of fantasy players into a unitary online contest where each fantasy player seeks to advance through various brackets in order to win prizes derived from the mass amount of entry fees. In addition, the method described below of allowing a contestant to choose in all draft positions allows for a different way of conducting strategy and gamesmanship.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,669,565 issued to Liegey on Feb. 5, 2001 is a method of conducting a fantasy sports game. Liegey uses a fantasy sports method that increases available points for winning draft picks taken in the later rounds as well as permitting players to trade teams. Unlike the present invention, Liegey also depends award points on various rounds of a tournament and seeding placement of a winning team. In contrast, the present invention provides a method to integrate hundreds of thousands of fantasy players into a unitary online contest through a much more elaborate bracket methodology where each fantasy player seeks to advance through various brackets in order to win prizes derived from the mass amount of entry fees. Moreover, the present invention is such that one team out of the 12 teams operated by a player will draft first, an additional team will draft second and on up to the 12th draft position. This function of the present invention permits each player to adopt various draft strategies rather than being limited to completely random draft orders for all teams.